Vacuum cleaner



Sept. 2, 1941.

C. H. TAYLOR VACUUM CLEANER Original Filed Aug. 14, 1957 2 Sheets-Sheet l INVENTOR Char/es/l 75y/0r BY W2 ATTORN p 2, 1941- c. H. TAYLOR 2,254,667

VACUUM CLEANER Original Filed Aug. 14, 1937 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR WITNE$5E5 v (b A! Ey/or.

ATTORI Y BY Patented Sept. 2, 1941 UNITED- STATES ATENT; oF ice vletifiifglm I v Westinghouse Electric & I pany, East Pittsburgh, Pan,

Pennsylvania,

Manufacturing Com a corporation of Original application Augustldtliibt, s erial No. 159,050." Divided and this application January 30, 1940, Serial No. 316,331 v k 2 Claims. (01. 306-12) g g v main rne mber of the cleaner. The vaccum clean My invention relates to vacuum cleaners or like articles adapted to be operated on the floor, and more particularly to a handle control device therefor. -This application is a. division of my application, Serial No. 159,050, ,filed August 14, 1937, for Vacuum cleaners.

In vacuum cleaners known to the art having handle control devices associated therewith, it is the common procedure to have a,device that is manually adjustable, movable by the fingers, operatively associated with the'handle to con,- trol or limit the operating position of such handle. Most manually adjustable devices are somewhat complicated in construction and difficult to operate, resulting in undue inconvenience for the operator when adjusting the handle to a desired operating position. I p

It is an object of my invention to provide a device which retains the handle in a desired position or within adesired' range of movement but which permits easy and convenientadjustment of the handle from one position to another; a particular object being to provide a" device which permits the handle to be moved from one position to another by applying a slightlyincreased force to the handle. w I

A further object is to provide a simple, reliable and inexpensive handle controldevice..-

These and other objects areeffected by my invention as willbe apparent'fromthe following description and claims taken in accordance with the accompanying drawings, forming a partof this application, in which:

Fig. 1 is a side elevational View of a vacuum cleaner embodying my invention;

Fig. 2 is a detail sectional view, taken along the line 11-11 of Fig. 1, showing the handle control device;

Fig. 3 is an elevational view of the automatic handle position control shown in Figs. 1 and 2;

Figs. 4, 5 and 6 are, respectively, left-hand, top and right-hand side views of the device shown in Fig. 3; and,

Fig. 7 is a developed view of the device shown in Fig. 3, taken along the line X-X.

Referring to the accompanying drawings in detail, I show a vacuum cleaner i0 comprising a motor casing l2, a fan housing 13, a suction nozzle M, an operating handle l6 pivotally mounted on said casing, and an automatic handle control device l8 operatively associated with said-handle and rigidly attached to the casing.

The housing i3 and the nozzle M are integral, and the casing I2 is rigidly attached to the housing l3, thereby providing a rigid body for the er includes a fan within the housing [3 for producing'a suction within the nozzle i4 and a motorin the casing 12 for. driving the fan; 'A plurality' of bossportions l5 maybe operatively associated with'the casing l2 in any suitable manner, and may have the handle l6 operatively associated therewith as hereinafter described.

The handle l6 has a bifurcated lower end portion 22 operatively associated with the main handle portion 23. The bifurcated end portion 22 comprises a plurality of tines 24 and 26, the

free ends of which are operatively associated with the boss portions l5, to permitthe handle [6 to pivot or swing aboutsuch boss portions as an axis. .A U-shaped bracket 28 may be rigidly 'attached to the tine 26 by rivets 21 so that a roller 30, rotatably mounted upon. the end of the U-shaped bracket 28, may be operatively associated with the automatic handle controldev c I8. The roller 30 may be rotatably mountedupon the free ends of the U-shaped bracket 28 by means'of a suitable pin 28 rigidly attached to the U-shaped bracket 28 in any desirable manner.

Theautomatic handle-position controlling device I8 comprises a plate which maybe formed from any suitable sheet metal so thatthe, outer or free end portion 32 thereof may, be capable of springing or bending with relation to the main portion 33 thereof. The plate: I8 is rigidly at tached to thecasing by meansof suitable screws 40 or the like, which are spaced, from the resilient portion32 so as to permitlthe aforesaid springing or bending thereof. The resilient portion 32 is in the form of an arc concentric ,with theaxis on which the ha'ndleili is pivotedto thecasing I2. It is formed in an irregular manner sub stantially as shown in Figs. 3 to 7 so that it has a small circular indent 34, a long flat indent 36, and a tapered indent 38. A shoulder or stop-34a is located at one end adjacent the indent 34 while a shoulder or stop 39 is located at the other end adjacent the tapered indent 38. The indents 34 and 36 are separated by shoulders 35a and 35b formed by a boss portion 35, and the indents 36 and 38 are separated by a shoulder 31' When operating the handle 16 to its various working positions, the roller 30 operatively associated with the bifurcated end portion 22, as I i hereinabove described rides along the'resilient portion 32 of the plate 18, bearing against the side thereof. When the vacuum' cleaner is not in use, the roller 30 will be operatively associ ated with plate I8 within theindent 34, and due to the presence of the shoulders 34a and 350', will hold the handle iii in vertical position. When it i desired to operate or move the vacuum cleaner,

' the upper end of the handle l6 may be grasped and pulled down or swung about the boss portions I to its normal working position. The

roller 30 will then 'ride upon the shoulder 35a progresses downwardly. The. length of the elo'n' I gated indent 36 will then permit the free or unrestrained normal use of the vacuum cleaner either the shoulder 35b or 31.

The shoulder 31, as shown in Fig. 7, because of the distance it projects from the elongated in-' dent 36, will prohibit the handle Hi from falling below a predetermined position corresponding to the position of. such shoulder. However, if it be desired to operate the vacuum cleaner with the handle IS in a substantially horizontal position, the operator may merely force the handle down into such position. As the handle is'forced downwardly, the roller 30 will engage shoulder 31 and force the resilient portion 32 outwardly, permitting the roller 30 to proceed on into the tapered indent portion 38 substantially as hereinabove described, where it will be limited in its downward motion by the shoulder 39. With the roller located within the tapered indent or notch portion 38, the handle will be in a substantially horizontal position, permitting the vacuum cleaner to be operated under low objects such as a bed.

Should the operator desire to rotate the handle back to its normal operating position or to its vertical position, she merely needs to raise the handle into such desired position. While the handle is being returned to an upper position,

the-resilient portion 32 will readily move outwardly, because of the gradual taper of the indent portion 38, permitting the roller 30 to move to the upper position desired by the operator, substantially as hereinabove described. However; it is to be understood that theshoulders 35a, 35b; and 31 will prevent the handle Hi from proceeding from any one notched position to another by its own weight or motion without additional force being supplied thereto by the operator.

It is, therefore, obvious that the automatic handle-position controlling device [8 will readily permit the handle to be located and retained in any desired position or maintained within a prevarious changes andmodifications without departing from the spirit thereof, and I desire,

ftherefore, that only such limitations shall be without having the roller 30 become engaged with' i placed thereupon as adapted .for operation are specifically set forth in the appended claims.

What I claim is: 1. The combination with a vacuum cleaner upon the floor and comprising a main membenhaving wheels for movablysupporting the same on the floor and a handle pivoted to the main member on a horizontal axis for movingthe main member, of an auto, matic handle control device comprising a resil ient plate fastened to one of .said members adjacent said pivot axis andincluding an arcuate portion disposed concentrically of said pivot axis and spaced from the point of fastening, said resilient plate further including portions extend ing substantially radially from the point of-fas tening to the two ends of the arcuate portion, a contact portion carried by the other of said members in such position as to engage the side of said arcuate portion, said arcuateportion being formed with a portion along which said contact portion moves freely during the normal operation of the vacuum cleaner, shoulders at the opposite ends of said normal operation portion to yieldably retain said handle member within the normal operating range against movement either upwardly or downwardly, and a shoulder disposed so as to engage said contact portion to yieldably retain said handle member, when in vertical position, against movement toward the normal operating range, the automatic handle control device further including'a stop adapted to engage said contact portion, when thehandle is in vertical position, to retain the handle against movement away from the normal operating range and with a stop adapted to engage the contact portion, when thehandle is in horizontal-position, to retain the handle member against downward movement.

2. The combination set forth in claim lwherein said contact portion comprises a roller which rotates on an axis extending radially of said pivot axis.

CHARLES H. TAYLOR. 

